Wringer mechanism for clothes-washers.



F. J. COUCH AND J. F. WALLACE,

WRINGER MECHANISM FOR CLOTHES WASHERS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.2I. 1918.

1 25,234. Patented Dec. 16, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

1 INVENTORS [ZzzmsJCZuc a Jamgsi- [ace ATTORNEYS.

F. L COUCH AND J. F. WALLACE. WRINGER MECHANISM FOR CLOTHES WASHERS.

' APPLICATION HLED JAN-2i. BIB. 1,325,234. Patented Dec. 16,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHE 2.

INVENTORS Gawc WITNESSES: 7 BYJ;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FORREST J. COUCH, OF SPENCERPORT, AND JAMES F. WALLACE, OF ROCHESTER,NEW YORK, ASSIGNORS, BY MEISNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO ROCHESTER WASHING MACHINECORPORATION, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

WRINGER MECHANISM FOR CLOTHES-WASHERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 16, 1919.

Application filed January 21, 1918. Serial No. 212,867.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, Fonnns'r J. (lotion and JAMES F. WALLACE, ofSpencerport and Rochester, respectively, in the county of Monroe andState of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inWringer Mechanism for Clothes-Washers; and we do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification, and to the reference-numerals marked. thereon.

The object of our invention is primarily to afford a safety device forwringer mechanisms of the general type in which the wringer isadjustable with reference to the washing machine or tub. Morespecifically the invention is designed to provide interlocking devicesthat prevent adjustment of the Wringer mechanism, as a whole, at alltimes when the wringer rolls are in operation, and permitting suchadjustment only when the wringer rolls are idle. An additional pur poseof the improvement is to afford a simple and practicable mechanism whichis so arranged as to readily permit the necessary accessibility orremovability of parts both for assembling and repair. To these and otherends the invention consists in certain improvements and combinations ofparts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novelfeatures being pointed out in the claims at the end of thespecification.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan View of an apparatus constructed in accordance withone embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation with parts broken away;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line 3 -3 of Fig. 1';

Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the wringer mechanism Fig. 5 is a verticalsectional View on line 55'- of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the line 6 6 of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 7 is a detail plan view of the base on which the mechanism issupported.

Similar reference numerals in the several figures indicate the sameparts.

A particular field of application of the improvements is in domesticclothes washing machinery where a wringer is power driven, and soarranged with reference to a plurality of tubs or washing receptacles asto bring it into different positions for cooperation with any of them.An objection heretofore has been that if the wringer support ormechanism be released for adjustment While the wringer rolls are inoperation, the entire mechanism is likely to be rotated with some forceand injure the operator. The principle of this phase of our invention islikewise applicable in other relations, and for convenience ofillustration it is shown here as applied to the type of washingapparatus above mentioned.

1 designates the washer, preferably in the form of a tub, upon which isfixedly mounted a casting 2 including a base 3 and an upstanding bearing4:. 5 designates the wringer support in the form of an arm, resting uponthe base 3, and having a hollow end portion which engages the bearing 4and is rotatable about the same, as will appear more fully presently.The wringer, which is mounted upon the support 5, is designatedgenerally by 6 and includes rolls to which power is transmitted by thedriven shaft 7. The driven shaft 7 is journaled in a bearing of astandard 8, preferably formed integral with the support 5, and it hasfixed thereon a bevel gear 9 which engages both of the oppositelydisposed bevel pinions 10 and 11. The latter are loosely mounted upon adriving shaft 12 which is journaled vertically in the support 5, itsupper end extending within the bearing 13, while its lower end extendsdownwardly in the bearing 4 of the base. The lower end of the drivingshaft 12 carries a key 14, which engages a cooperating slot in the upperend of a hollow power shaft 15. This arrangement permits the support 5,together with the driving shaft 12, to be lifted off of the base 3, ifit is desirable to remove the wringer mechanism as a single unit. Itwill be noted that the shaft 12 is smaller in diameter than the shaft 15and slides into its upper end. The opening in the bearing 4 is somewhatlarger than the shaft 12 to allow the key 1 1 to be readily liftedtherefrom. This construction also perniits a slight rocking of the shaft12, when excess strain is applied to the shaft 7, due to unevenness inthe thickness of the object passing between the rolls of the wringer.The bevel pinion's 10 and 11 are operated by a clutch 16 which is keyedto and slidable on the driving shaft 12, being selectively engageablewith said pinions in order to drive the shaft 7 in opposite directions.The position of the clutch 16 determines the direction of movement ofthe driven shaft 7, and the clutch is operatedby a controlling device inthe form of a. plate 17 which carries an eccentrically mountedprojection 18 engaging the guideway 19 on the clutch. The plate 17 isadjustable by a handle 20, and when the latter is in the verticalposition shown in Figs. 3, at and 5, the clutch in neutral position andthe driven shaft is idle. To effect movement of the driven shaft 7, theclutch handle 20is moved to the right or left against one of the stops21, causing the clutch to engage one of the bevel pinions 10 or 11. Theoscillatory clutch controlling member 17 is ournaled in acover portion22, which is attached to the standard 8 in any convenient way, andserves to inclose the clutch mechanism and cooperating gears.

The support 5 is adjustable to different positions upon the base 1 forthe purpose of varying the position of the wringer. To this end, thebase 3 has a series of openings 23, which are preferably arranged asshown in Fig. 7, but may be otherwise disposed to establish certainpredetermined positions for the wringer. The support 5 is held in placeby means of a retaining device, preferably in the form of a springcontrolled pin 24, governed by the spring It carries a finger piece 26by which it can be lifted to disengage it from the openings 23, withwhich the pin cooperates to hold the support in any adjusted position.If the retaining pin 2% should be lifted, and the support 5 thusreleased when the driven member 7 is in motion, it will cause the bevelgear 9 and the entire wring-er support to move bodily around the pinionwith which the clutch is engaged. If this takes place unexpectedly, uponlifting the retaining pin, the support is likely to strike and injurethe operator. To overcome this, we employ interlocking means between theclutch and the retaining device, whereby the latter cannot be retractedfrom its locking position except when the clutch is disengaged from boththe pinions 10 and 11 and the driven shaft 7 is idle.

This can be accomplished in various ways, and we preferably employ asupplemental spring controlled pin 27, housed in the cover portion 22and engaging the upper end of the pin T he upper end of the supplementalpin 27, when in normal position, as

shown in Figs. 3 and 5, terminates just below the clutch controllingdevice 17. The latter is provided with an opening or recess 28, which,when the clutch is in neutral position, lies in the path of thesupplemental pin 27 and permits the latter to move upwardly. The clutchcontrolling plate 17 also has stop portions 29 which overlie thesupplemental pin 27 and prevent its upward movement when the clutch isshifted to either of its operative positions. When the clutch is thusshifted, and the driven shaft 7 is in operation, one of the stopportions 29 lies in the path of the supplemental pin 27, preventing itsupward movement, and the latter in turn prevents upward movement of theretaining pin 24: so that the support 5 cannot be released. l l hen theclutch is shifted to its neutral position, the supplemental pin 27 isengageable with the opening 28, and the retaining pin 2% can then belifted to disengage it from the opening in the base. The support 5 isthen adjustable about the bearing l to any desired position. Byreleasing the retaining pin 24., the latter drops into the selectedopening and the position of adjustment is again retained. To remove thewringcr, the support 5 with all of the mechanism mounted thereon can belifted bodily from. the base 3, the weight of the parts being sufficientto hold the assemblage in operating position.

Vi e claim as our invention:

1. The combination with a base, of a support adjustably arranged on thebase, a driven shaft and a driving shaft both j ournaled in saidsupport, gears loosely mounted on the driving shaft and cooperating withthe driven shaft to move it in opposite directions, a clutch slidable onthe driving shaft into selective engagement with said gears, a retainingdevice acting to hold the support in adjusted position on the base, andinterlocking means between the retaining device and said clutch wherebydisengz'agement of the retaining device from the base is permitted whenthe clutch is in neutral position and prevented when the clutch isengaged with one of said gears.

The combination with a base, of a support rotatively mounted on thebase, a driven shaft and a driving shaft both journaled in said support,gears loosely mounted on the driving shaft and cooperating with the tomove it in opposite direcdriven shalt tions, a clutch slidable on thedriving shaft into selective engagement with said gears, a slidableretaining pin carried by the support and engaging openings in the base,and a stop controlled by the position of said clutch and acting when thelatter is engaged to limit the outward movement of the pin and preventits disengagement from the base.

The combination with a base, of a support adjustably arranged on thebase, a driven shaft on the support, a retaining device acting to holdthe support in adjusted position on the base, and means cooperating withsaid retaining device and acting to prevent its disengagement from thebase when the driven shaft is running and to permit such disengagementwhen the driven shaft is idle.

4:. The combination with a base, of a support rotatively mounted on thebase, a driven shaft on the support, a slidable retaining pin acting tohold the support in adjusted position on the base, and means cooperatingwith said retaining pin and acting to prevent its disengagement from thebase when the driven shaft is running and to permit such disengagementwhen the driven shaft is idle.

5. The combination with a base, of a clothes wringer support rotativelymounted on the base, a driven shalt journaled in the support, a drivingshaft also arranged on the support, gearing connecting the driving shaftand driven shaft for moving the latter in either direction includingoppositely arranged gears and a slidable clutch member movableselectively into engagement therewith, a retaining device acting to holdthe support in adjusted position on the base, and interlocking meansbetween said clutch and retaining device acting to hold the latterengaged with the base when the clutch is engaged and to release theretaining device when the clutch is in neutral position.

6. The combination with a base, of a clothes wringer support rotativelymounted on the base, a driven shaft jcurnaled in the support, a drivingshaft also arranged on the support, gearing connecting the driving shaftand driven shaft for moving the latter in either direction includingoppositely arranged gears and a slidable clutch member movableselectively into engagement therewith, a spring controlled retaining pinmounted on the support and positioned to engage one of several openingsin the base, a supplemental spring controlled pin engaging the firstmentioned pin, and a movable controlling device for said clutch having arecess which receives the supplemental pin and permits disengagement ofthe retaining pin when the clutch is in neutral position.

7. The combination with a base, of a clothes wringer support rotativelymounted on the base, a driven shaft journaled in the support, a drivingshaft also arrangedon the support, gearing connectlng the driving shaftand driven shaft for moving the latter in either direction includingoppositely arranged gears and a slidable clutch member movableselectively into engagement therewith, a spring controlled retaining pinmounted on the support and positioned to engage one of several openingsin the base, a supplemental spring controlled pin ongaging the firstmentioned pin, and an oscillatory clutch controlling device connected tothe clutch and provided with stop portions, one of which lies in thepath of the supplemental pin when the clutch is engaged, and a recessintermediate said stop portions which receives the supplemental pin whenthe clutch is in neutral position and permits disengagement of theretaining pin.

8'. The combination with a base, of a clothes wringer support rotativelymounted on the base, a driven shaft journaled in the support, a drivingshaft also arranged on the support, gearing connecting the driving shaftand driven shaft for moving the lat ter in either direction includingoppositely arranged gears and a slidable clutch member movablealternately into engagement therewith, a spring controlled retaining pinmounted on the support and positioned to engage one of several openingsin the base, and a movable clutch controlling device having stopportions that prevent movement of the retaining pin when the clutch isengaged, and an opening that permits movement of the retaining pin whenthe clutch is in neutral position.

9. The combination with. a base, of a clothes wringer support rotativelymounted on the base, a driven shaft journaled in the support, a drivingshaft also arranged on the support, gearing connecting the driving shaftand driven shaft for moving the latter in either direction includingoppositely ar ranged gears and a slidable clutch member movablealternately into engagement therewith, a spring controlled retaining pinmounted on the support and positioned to engage one of several openingsin the base, a removable cover portion, a supplemental. springcontrolled pin mounted on the cover portion and engaging said firstmentioned pin, and a movable clutch controlling device having an openingwhich receives the supplemental pin when the clutch is in neutralposition.

10. The combination with a base including an upwardly projectingbearing, of a clothes wringer support rotatably mounted on said bearing,a power shaft journaled in the base, a driving shaft journaled in saidsupport, extending loosely in the bearing and having a rocking andremovable engagement with said power shaft, and a driven shaft journaledin the support and operated from said driving shaft.

11. The combination with a base, of a support rotatably mounted on thebase, a wringer supported on said support eccentrically with referenceto said axis of rotation of the support, a power shaft supported on thebase and connected with the wringer in line with the axis of rotation of5 said support, a clutch connection interposed between the power shaftand the wringer, and means for holding the support against rotation onthe base, said means preventing the release of the support while theclutch is connecting the power shaft with the 10 wringer.

FORREST J. COUCH. JAMES F. \VALLAGE.

